Why Are Black Women Dying in Childbirth? Charlotte Leaders Confront the Maternal Health Crisis

Danetta Glass and Congresswoman Alma S. Adams address Black Maternal Health Crisis at Sarah Stevenson Tuesday Forum

At the Sarah Stevenson Tuesday Forum, Congresswoman Alma Adams and maternal health advocate Danette McLaurin Glass call for urgent reforms to address one of America’s most preventable public health crises.

On March 10, community leaders, advocates, and residents gathered for the Sarah Stevenson Tuesday Forum to confront a sobering question: Why are Black women still dying in childbirth in the United States?

The panel featured Congresswoman Alma S. Adams and Danette McLaurin Glass, Managing Principal and Senior Strategist of First TEAM America and Chair of the Center for Family and Community Wellness. Together, they delivered a powerful discussion on the systemic failures behind America’s maternal health crisis—and the urgent changes needed to save lives.

A Legacy That Began Before Birth

For Danette McLaurin Glass, maternal advocacy is deeply personal.

Her story began with her own mother, an elementary school principal in Charlotte who faced workplace discrimination during pregnancy.

At the time, pregnant women were often required to resign from their jobs, unable to work while expecting.

But the Charlotte community rallied around her mother, pushing back against the policy and making it possible for her to continue working during pregnancy, give birth to Danette, and return to her position afterward.

Danette became the first child born under that new precedent.

A Charlotte native, graduate of West Charlotte High School, and later a Duke University attendee, and a Cornell University alumna, Glass has spent her career advancing equity for families across the Southeast. Her passion for maternal health advocacy intensified during her time working in Atlanta.

Today, she develops nationally recognized simulation experiences that train healthcare providers and communities to understand the impact of childhood trauma, pregnancy complications, and maternal health disparities.

A Crisis That Is Preventable

The data presented during the forum painted a stark picture.

According to the CDC, more than 80% of maternal deaths in the United States are preventable.

Glass emphasized that the crisis is not mysterious.

“The crisis facing Black women’s health is not a mystery. It is the predictable result of longstanding inequities in healthcare, social conditions, and the stress of navigating systems that too often fail to protect us.”

In North Carolina alone, an average week reveals troubling numbers:

• 2,309 babies are born

• 252 babies are born preterm

• 218 babies are born with low birthweight

• 1,805 women receive adequate prenatal care

Yet critical data gaps remain.

Glass noted that the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services has stopped collecting trend data on maternal mortality, raising concerns about accountability.

“If they stop the data,” she warned, “they don’t care about the problem.”

A Story of Survival

One of the most emotional moments of the forum came through a presentation video featuring Christina Guillen, who shared her near-fatal childbirth experience.

For more than 24 hours, she remained stalled at four centimeters dilation.

Despite having a birth plan, she said her concerns were dismissed.

She was labeled “demanding” and “difficult.”

When she told nurses she felt the baby coming, her concerns were met with visible frustration.

Moments later, a doctor rushed in and realized the baby was crowning.

Within ten minutes, her daughter was born.

But the danger had only begun.

As the placenta was delivered, the room filled with blood. In the rush to treat her, pieces of placenta remained inside her body.

Christina felt life leaving her.

She turned to her best friend and whispered:

“Please take care of my baby. Thank you for being here with me.”

Moments later, she flatlined.

Emergency responders rushed into the room. During the chaos, a doctor ordered three times the appropriate dosage of a medication—a mistake that could have been fatal.

Christina survived only because her mother intervened and questioned the dosage.

What haunted her most afterward was not only the trauma—but the silence.

No apology was ever offered.

She believes she would not have survived had it not been for advocates and caregivers she brought with her to the hospital.

The Role of Stress and Structural Inequality

Glass explained that maternal disparities are not rooted in biology.

They are rooted in systems.

Chronic stress caused by racism, environmental conditions, and healthcare barriers can lead to complications such as:

• Preeclampsia

• Premature birth

• Low birthweight infants

• Maternal mortality

Black mothers are four times more likely to experience severe maternal health outcomes than white mothers.

The issue, she said, lies at the intersection of stress, access to care, and social determinants of health.

Alma Adams Pushes Policy Solutions

Congresswoman Alma Adams has spent years advocating for legislation aimed at improving maternal health outcomes.

Among her efforts is the Kira Johnson Act, named after a Black mother who died due to preventable complications after childbirth.

The bill aims to:

• Improve hospital accountability

• Fund community-based maternal health organizations

• Strengthen data collection on maternal outcomes

• Expand maternal mental health resources

• Improve healthcare for incarcerated mothers

• Develop innovative payment models for maternal care

She also supported the creation of a national maternal mental health hotline, an initiative developed alongside advocates like Glass.

So far, only one of thirteen maternal health bills she introduced—the Women Who Serve Act—has passed and been signed into law.

Adams emphasized that policy must go beyond discussion.

“We can’t just talk about the problem.”

She also criticized federal budget cuts that reduce healthcare access.

Referring to a recent proposal affecting Medicare and social support programs, she warned:

“They call it beautiful—but it only hurts beautiful people.”

Cuts to programs affecting housing, transportation, nutrition, and healthcare—all key social determinants of health—can directly impact prenatal care access.

Building Respectful Maternity Care

Glass advocates for a healthcare system built on respectful maternity care, where patients are treated with dignity regardless of race, income, or reproductive history.

Her work includes developing simulation training programs that allow healthcare professionals to experience maternal health challenges from the patient’s perspective.

Another simulation is scheduled for April at UNC Charlotte.

Her organization also launched HEART — Health Education Advocacy Resources and Training, a program created to identify root causes of infant mortality and improve birth outcomes.

Key partner organizations include:

• Care Ring

• Mecklenburg County Health Department

• UNC Chapel Hill School of Medicine

• UNC Gillings School of Public Health

• UNC Charlotte College of Health and Human Services

• Atrium Health

• Novant Health

• C.W. Williams Community Health Center

• Forsyth, Rowan, and Guilford County Health Departments

These collaborations support initiatives such as:

• Nurse Family Partnership

• Guided Journey with Mecklenburg County

• Healthy Start Programs funded by HRSA

• Two-generation care clinics

Many of these services are available to North Carolina residents.

A Call to Action

Glass closed the forum with a message that resonated deeply with the audience.

If outcomes are to change, the system itself must change.

Healthcare training, patient advocacy, and community engagement must evolve together.

“To change outcomes, we must change how we prepare, engage, and respond.”

She urged communities to:

• Invest in experiential learning for healthcare providers

• Strengthen health literacy among families

• Elevate patient advocacy

• Transform maternal care systems

Her final words echoed through the room:

“Change the knowledge. Change the response. Change the outcome.”

And then the challenge:

“The question is not what should change—but who will lead the change.”

“Let it be us.We are the change that we seek.”